The Long and Winding Road
by AkaneAlways
Summary: Late night conversation may add new twists to the road and push them farther from her door...(Not Zen's RU story)
1. The Long and Winding Road

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, so please do not sue me.

The Long and Winding Road:  
That Leads to Your Door, Will Never Disappear

_As they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Ever since Ranma has cured himself, the fiancées have been more persistent. Thankfully, none of them are going to the extremes they used to, but daily visits from each of them is starting to wear on everyone's nerves. And I swear, if I even see any okinomiyaki or ramen again, I'll throw up._

_Kuno is still moaning about the pig-tailed girl. He goes back and forth between thinking that Ranma did something to her and that she left because she didn't feel as though she was worthy for him. Either way, he's pretty sure she will return and proclaim her love for him once and for all…poor sap._

_Kasumi and Dr. Tofu are doing well. There's no talk of anything serious, but they're going out quite frequently and Dr. Tofu acts normally around her…most of the time. Daddy and Mr. Saotome still spend most of their days at the shogi board. Daddy still stops whenever he is reminded of you, although he doesn't cry so much anymore. _

_Ryoga has been coming by a lot also. Either his sense of direction is getting better, or he's trying to get the hell out of town. Still, he's good for a little comic relief when we really need it. Ranma and him are still getting along. They're like the best of friends, when they actually see each other. The same goes for Mousse. Once they put girls to the side, they all found that they pretty much had similar interest. I think a lot of it had to do with them being there for Ranma though…and the cure of course._

_Th more things change, the more they stay the same…I guess Ranma was never one to follow the path of others. He's changed so much. You'd hardly believe he was that same egotistical boy that showed up at our front door all those years ago. He still trains every morning, not with his father though. He just wants to be alone when he trains. We all know why, but none of us say anything. At the beginning of summer, he got a job at that public pool that we used to go to when we were kids. He's there all morning, and seems terribly bored. Although, I've noticed that a lot more teenage girls show up since he's been there. I wasn't really surprised, he attracts them like flies, doesn't he? _

_After work, he usually comes home, eats, changes, and then goes out for most of the night. He says that he goes with "the guys" but all the guys I know of say that they only see him when they pass by the pool in the morning, or if they happen to catch him at home before he leaves. We all know what he's doing…he's looking for you. __He's the only one who won't give up on you. No matter what anyone says, he just ignores them. I think it's starting to drive him crazy…_

_Akane, this whole set-up was fine at first. I honestly thought that this was going to last a few days, a week at the most. I thought it would be a good way to make some money off of you (by the way, I told you to stop making deposits into my account) or a way to make Ranma admit his feelings, but it's gone too far. I don't want your money anymore that alone should tell you how serious I am. It's getting to a point where I start to jump at the mention of your name. I tried to convince them that you're still with us.I was on Ranma's side for the longest time, but when Ryoga crossed over, I knew I'd have to too, lest they suspect something. Akane, it's been a year since you've left and three months since they all gave up hope. I can't go on with it anymore. You have one month to write a letter to me, telling me an exact date when you'll be coming home (which better be within 2 months) or write to the family and tell them that you're ok and give them a time when you'll be coming back. If I don't hear from you in a month, I'm going to tell them Akane. I might make up a story saying that one of my contacts saw you somewhere, or I'll just tell them I've known the whole time, I'm not sure yet. But they need to know Akane. They need to know. I'll be waiting by the mailbox for your reply. See you soon. _

_Nabiki_

In exactly two weeks a letter arrived addressed to Nabiki Tendo that only had two words on it: _One month._


	2. It Always Leads Me Here

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, please do not sue me.

The Long and Winding Road:  
I've Seen That Road Before, It Always Leads Me Here

Nabiki wasn't sure if Akane meant a month from when she received the letter, or from when she sent her response, or when Nabiki got the letter, but it didn't matter. Nabiki had a week marked on her calendar. Unless Akane was lying to Nabiki, and if she was she was going to be in so much trouble, Akane would be arriving sometime that week. She had entertained the idea of telling her family that Akane was coming back, but she just wasn't sure how that conversation would go over, especially with the ever stressed out Ranma. She decided to just keep her mouth shut, for the most part.

She was able to catch Ranma before he left for his nightly acts. It was a long shot, but she thought it might work.

"Hey Ranma. You look horrible, maybe you should stay in and get some sleep tonight." Ranma just shook his head and continued to the front door. It was time for Nabiki to aim below the belt.

"Ranma, she wouldn't want you to do this to yourself, not for her sake anyway." He turned back to her and smiled somewhat bitterly.

"Well, I was never really known for doing what she wanted, was I?" Nabiki supposed she didn't aim low enough, and tried again.

"Ranma, if you could find her, you would have already." This caused Ranma to stop dead for a few seconds before he silently proceeded on his journey. It was a little after 5 when he left, and Nabiki estimated that he wouldn't come home until about midnight. The only solace that she had was that Akane would be back soon, and this behavior would stop.

* * *

Ranma saw her face so often. In those first few months he would stop every woman with short dark hair, and even some with longer hair, similar to the way Akane had hers when they first met. He hated the memories because a part of him argued that they were all he had left of her. That side had been growing bigger ever since Ryoga agreed that Akane was gone. Ranma noticed that no one said the word dead. He wasn't sure if it was because they didn't believe it, or if they didn't want to believe it. He didn't care though. He wasn't going to stop looking until he found proof, one way or another. At this point he wasn't even sure what he was looking for.

It was easier when Ryoga was still searching. He got lost so easily and he made good distance in a short amount of time. It was a great way to spread the word…when Ryoga was in a city or large time, it was pointless when he was off in the mountains, which happened to be most of the time. That didn't matter though, he was alone now and had no information. He had conditioned himself to attack all the girls even coming close to looking like Akane, but he still went into every restaurant and bar in the area showing pictures of her asking if anyone had seen her.

* * *

Another night with no leads. Maybe Nabiki was right, he would have found her by now…if she could be found. Even though no one said she was dead, there was a place for her in the cemetery. It wasn't a grave really. It was something they attached to her mother's headstone. Ranma wasn't really sure what it was, he'd never gone, he refused to it would be admitting that…admitting something that he didn't want to admit. Even now, as he was approaching the bend in the road that led to the cemetery he began to slow down.

He just couldn't accept the idea. Something inside him told him that she wasn't gone. It told him that she's gone missing before and he'd always found her. But the other voices were drowning it out. They said that she's never been gone this long and that there was no way she could just disappear into thin air. The voices of doubt were louder than ever, but that little hopeful voice was still there. Ranma had stopped and leaned on a light post. He had to let her go. He had to silence that little voice. He was only hurting himself this way.

He stood under that light post for fifteen minutes trying to rationalize away that little voice, but it was a stubborn as he is…as she was. Was. He hated thinking about her in the past tense, but it was a good a place as any to start. He was thinking of going into the cemetery, but he knew he wasn't ready for that yet, but he had to walk by it to get home. He never used to look at it, he didn't want to look for her there, but this time he would look. He promised himself.

As he rounded the corner he saw her. She was about a head shorted than him and had dark hair. It was pin straight and reached about an inch past her shoulders. It was dark blue. She had no bangs, but he was unable to see her eyes from his distance. He decided to casually close in on her. As previously stated, he had had some trouble in the past when he saw someone who looked like her. She began walking away from him…in the direction of the Dojo. No, that was just wishful thinking. She was just walking…but still…

He tried to stay back, but he wasn't going to get anywhere looking at her back, so he sped up. He was digging through his pockets for anything he could use to get near her. He usually had some money on him, but he seemed have spent it or left it at home. All he had was those pictures of Akane. Then it hit him, two birds, one stone. He could ask her if she had seen Akane and get a good look at her as well. Ranma began running up to the woman and when he was about to tap her shoulder she spun around and kicked him in the side.

He was so surprised that he was unable to block, or keep his balance. His arm hitting the cement didn't really hurt, but his side kind of did. Which was unusual, especially since he didn't do anything. Before he could apologize to the woman for scaring him, she yelled at him.

"What the heck were you trying to do, you pervert!" There was no mistaking it. That was her voice and her pet name. Ranma looked up from his place on the ground and made eye contact with the woman. Her eyes widened when she realized who he was, but he was the one to speak first.

"Akane?" She nodded her head and then offered him her hand. He took it and once he was straight on his feet, he pulled her into a bone-shattering embrace. She didn't mind though, she was just happy that he wasn't yelling…yet.

"You have a lot of explaining to do you stupid tomboy." His voice was full of emotion and all she could was return his embrace. She had expected her father and Kasumi to act this way, but this was nice too. She'd have to relish in this moment because she knew that it would go away and the questions would start. She just wished that moments like this would come back after she explained herself.


	3. Lead Me to Your Door

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, please do not sue.

The Long and Winding Road  
Lead Me to Your Door

Ranma pulled away from Akane and smiled at her. She smiled back at him and realized just how much she had missed him. He grabbed her hand and began walking in the opposite direction of the Tendo Dojo.

"Come on Akane."

"Ranma, the house is that way."

"I know which way the house is, but we need to talk." She pulled her hand from his and he turned to look at her.

"Look Ranma, I'm a little tired and I don't really want to have to tell my story twice. It would just be a lot easier if…" He grabbed her hand again.

"Akane, they gave up on you a long time ago, they can wait until to hear your story. But I've been looking for you everyday, and as far as beingtired, we'll be sitting down."

Akane liked this new, mature Ranma, but she had to wonder how much of him had actually changed. So, she smiled and nodded.

"Fair enough."

They ended up at the park. She had expected that they would either end up here or at the school's roof, of course the park was closer. They sat down at a bench near the fountain, which reminded Ranma.

"I'm not cursed anymore." She was staring at the fountain.

"I know."

"How?" Akane's eyes widened and she turned towards Ranma. Nabiki had done so much for her and she didn't want anyone getting mad at her.

"Um, remember you were on that trip when I…I just figured that it worked out."

"Oh…" Akane wasn't quite sure, but it seemed like Ranma believed her.

"So what else has been going on since I left? Have you gotten any more fiancées? Or maybe you finally picked one of the many you already have?" Akane giggled a little, thinking that she was making a joke, Ranma felt differently though.

"That's not funny Akane." She stopped.

"It was just a joke Ranma. I'm only trying to keep the conversation light." Ranma stood up and kicked a rock.

"First of all, my pop made all those engagements and I had nothing to do with any of them! And no, he hasn't made anymore, I've made sure of it! And as far as those other girls go…they still try, but that doesn't mean they're getting anywhere!" Ranma kicked another rock.

"You didn't really have to answer, it was rhetorical." Ranma gave Akane a stern look.

"What happened Akane? I came back from my trip and find out you had left. No notes or anything, no one had any idea where you had gone…why?" He plopped down on the ground in front of her and stared.

"Ranma, do you know what happened the day you left?"

"Something happened?" She rolled her eyes.

"Geez, I thought someone would have told you. I had gone out to the store and was attacked near Dr. Tofu's office. I left my money at home and Kasumi was bringing it to me and all she saw was a blur leaving the scene. Later, when I woke up and talked to Dr. Tofu told me what he had heard. It was one of your fiancées, and before you ask, I'm not going to tell you. It's not important anymore…" She paused for a second thinking about that day and remembering how mad she was at Ranma for not being there, but she was more angry at herself for needing him to be.

"Anyway Ranma, after that I realized how much of a damsel in distress I was when you weren't around. I mean before you showed up I was fighting off a bunch of guys daily and then all the sudden it seemed as though I stopped fighting altogether."

"Akane you didn't…"

"Please, just let me finish. At first I was just going to do some extra training in the dojo, maybe force my dad into sparing with me. But after a while I knew that that wouldn't work. I mean using air as an opponent wouldn't get me very far. So I decided I needed to go away to train. And I did, and I've gotten better. Granted, I've still got a ways to go, but I decided it was time to come home."

"Who were you training with?" Akane smiled, looked away from Ranma, and blushed.

"What makes you think I was training with someone?"

"You said that you didn't want to fight air, and unless someone was with you, you were." He really doubted that she had fought animals in the mountains likeRyoga, buthe hoped she had.He wanted to catch her eyes, but she wasn't allowing it. Ranma was beginning to regret having this conversation.

"That doesn't matter either. What matters is that I'm back now and maybe tomorrow we can spar and you can see what I've learned." He stood up and picked up her luggage.

"I have work tomorrow." Akane could tell he was bitter about what she said, or what she didn't say, rather.

"Oh that reminds me! I learned how to…" Akane caught herself before she blew it. She was able to fix her earlier blunder, but there would be no way to save her if she led on that she knew where he worked. Ranma had looked back at her, waiting for the rest of her statement.

"You learned how to what?"

"Um…cook! I can cook now. Maybe when you get back from work I can make us something to eat and then we could spar." A look that Akane remembers well graced Ranma's features. She grabbed her luggage from his hands and began walking out of the park.

"If you don't believe me then you don't have to eat it, but you could at least wait until you see the food before getting scared, you jerk." Ranma ran up behind Akane and took the luggage back.

"I know, some old memories just snuck up on me, that's all."

"Sure Ranma. Let's go home, but I don't really want to be up half the night talking to my family so when you go in could you make a lot of noise, then I'll sneak in my bedroom window.

"Um, that might be difficult."

"Why? Is the window locked, because I could break into…"

"No, it's just…your room is sort of…it's being used right now."

"By who!" Ranma's face got redder.

"Me."

* * *

I'm not as happy with this chapters as the others, but I decided to post it because I just got another job and so I probably wont have as much time to sit down in front of the computer this weekend. On another note, I didn't know about the Ranma/Ukyo fic of the same name and I am sorry to anyone who was confused. I'll put something in the summary to help clear things up. As always, comments and criticism welcomed and appreciated. Thanks. 


	4. The Wild and Windy Night

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, please do not sue.

The Long and Winding Road  
The Wild and Windy Night, That the Rain Washed Away

One of the first things Akane learned in her training was to control her anger, but old habits die hard, especially in Nerima.

"What?"

"I'm using your…" Akane held her hand in front of Ranma's face.

"Yeah, I got that. Why?" Ranma looked away from her.

"Well, after you left things were…different. After a few months my mom moved in to help console your dad and sisters. Naturally she stayed in my room with my dad and I really had nowhere to sleep. I would have just slept in the dojo or on the roof, but Kasumi suggested I take your room. She said it would be better if it wasn't empty. I couldn't say no to her." Akane knew the feeling well, it was always extremely hard to go against Kasumi's wishes, especially if she was upset.

"Ok, well, same plan then. You go in the front, make some noise, and I'll sneak in the window. We'll discuss the rest later." It wasn't late, probably somewhere around 9, but Akane assumed that Nadoka had strict bed times for Genma and her father and Kasumi always went to bed at around 9:30. And Nabiki, if she noticed anything, would probably keep her mouth shut to keep out of trouble.

When Ranma got into the room he noticed Akane standing on her desk, with one foot on her chair, as though she was going to step down, but she seemed to be frozen.

"Ranma…what's that?" Ranma looked at the object in question and answered her in the same whispered voice that she had used.

"A futon." Akane stepped off the desk.

"Yes, but what's it doing here?" Ranma looked away from her.

"I wasn't going to sleep in your bed." Akane's anger raised, but she was able to keep it and her voice in check.

"What's wrong with my bed!" Ranma eyes met Akane's with anlook she wasn't used to, it was so remorseful.

"That's not what I meant. It's just that, it was bad enough that I was in your room without permission, your permission, I wasn't going to use your bed. It didn't seem right." Akane's gazed softened.

"Well, you have permission tonight." Ranma's eyes widened in shock.

"W-What!" Akane turned down the bed and gestured to Ranma.

"I think you deserve a good nights sleep on a nice fluffy bed." Ranma was blazing red.

"With you?" Akane realized what Ranma was thinking and turned the same shade of red.

"No! I meant you take the bed, and I'll take the futon!"

"Oh…" The color soon drained from both of there faces. Ranma took a seat on the futon.

"It wouldn't be right for the guy to take the bed and have the girl sleep on the floor. Besides, I've always slept on the ground." Akane looked towards the bed.

"Well suit yourself." Ranma was expecting to fight with Akane half the night about the sleeping arrangements. He guessed that she had also learned to pick her battles while she was training. He noticed Akane pulling an outfit out of her bag.

"Close your eyes."

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to change." Ranma looked towards her and blushed.

"I'll just go, I wanted to take a bath anyway."

"Well, if I happen to make a noise in here and you're in the bath someone might suspect something and that couldlead toproblems." Akane started to unbutton her shirt and Ranma almost freaked out.

"Hey, what are you doing?" He was trying to keep his voice down, but it was difficult.

"What?" That's when Ranma noticed that she was wearing a shirt under the one she was unbuttoning.

"Nothing."

All of the sudden a thought occurred to Ranma.

"Since when have you been so comfortable undressing in front of me!" A light pink tint arose on Akane's face and she walked back over to her desk. She sat down on the chair and looked at Ranma.

"It was part of my training." Ranma jumped up.

"Getting undressed in front of guys!"

"No! Don't be ridiculous!" Ranma relaxed a little and sat on the bed so he would be at eyelevel with her.

"My training focused on control and trust."

"So you were training with a man?" Ranma looked slightly downcast.

"How'd you guess?"

"How else would you be so comfortable with men?" Akane laughed.

"Well, he couldn't see me half the time any…" Akane's eyes widened in shock, realizing what she had said and hoping Ranma didn't.

Ranma was thinking. The phrase _'couldn't see' _stuck out in his mind. Was Akane's trainer blind? Then the rest of Akane's statement caught up to him _'half the time'_, so his eyesight was bad. A martial artist with bad eyesight, it sounded familiar... Then it clicked.

"That jerk! All that time and he knew!" Ranma was now yelling and Akane knew that the rest of the house would be showing up at her door any moment.

"Ranma, you don't understand! Just let me explain." But before Akane could say another word Ranma was out the window.

* * *

Again, I'm not too happy with how this turned out, and I was actually going to continue, but I think the next chapter should stand on its own. Next chapter will be the entrance of a few member of the NWC, and possibly Akane's family. I'm trying to go be consistent as far as my chapter sizes go, so if there is room, they will be added. Unless people don't mind a couple of long chapters here and there. Comments and criticism are still welcomed and appreciated. Thanks again. 


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